


Temple Trouble

by Tech_nique



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Dia/Mari Platonic relationship, Fictional Japan AU, Gen, Miko Dia, i am so sorry for how inaccurate to ancient japan this is, unedited
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 11:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11058192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tech_nique/pseuds/Tech_nique
Summary: The Kurosawa family has been protecting the small fishing village of Uchiura for generations, leading up to the current priestesses, Dia and Ruby. A week before the head priestess of a larger temple arrives to discuss the current state of the village Dia is left alone to take care of the village. In this time alone, a strange spirit arrives to torment the miko, which,, despite her best efforts, she is unable to eliminate.





	Temple Trouble

Plum blossoms fell gently from the trees surrounding the temple, only to be quickly swept up by the diligent shrine maiden. She let the spring air engulf her in a gentle breeze, her straight black hair flowing with it. She took a hand and brushed it to the side, breathing in the air from the sea below. 

“Everything must be perfect, everything must be in harmony.” she thought. The head priestess from a shrine in Kyoto would be arriving in a week’s time, in order to discuss current matters, and see if certain miko families needed to be relocated based on need. 

The Kurosawa household had been taking care of this small town for generations, and it was up to her to make sure that they were still it’s guardians by the end of the week. A small squeal cracked the air, and Dia turned her head to meet the creature that had made the noise. Among the plum blossoms, her little sister Ruby had fallen, her conical hat had fallen back, and her bag had spilled. The older girl sighed and made her way over, helping her little sister repack her things. 

“Are you alright Ruby? Are you sure you’re going to be able to make this trip alone?” She asked, worried for her sister’s well being. 

“Big sis, I can handle it myself, I’m a shrine maiden too, you know!”Ruby stood up, arms pulled back with newfound confidence. 

“Alright, Ruby. You remember how to dispel spirits of misfortune, right? Should I write down the ritual for you?”

“I’ll be okay, sis, I’ll do my best!” Ruby began to march ahead,”You do your best to keep things in order here!” A village a little north of them had requested a shrine maiden from the Kurosawa household come to dispel a spirit of misfortune which had been causing mayhem, though Dia was certain their request was for her, Ruby needed more field practice. 

Dia waved her sister off, she’d made certain Ruby had her talismans when she repacked the young girl’s bag. Despite Ruby’s efforts to snuff her concerns Dia still worried for her, as it was her first time exorcising a spirit on her own, and so far away from home that she wouldn’t be able to ask for help. Still, she was right, Dia had her own mission to accomplish, though she was certain she’d be able to do so with much greater ease than Ruby. Uchiura had been quiet recently, the spirits seemed to mostly be at ease, and soon they’d be performing to appease the ocean gods, and ask for a bountiful catch. 

Dia smiled to herself as she continued to sweep the steps to the temple, things looked orderly, and if all went well, she’d have a calm day for a while. Though, as she thought that a figure began to approach the steps, a sword to one side, and a long ponytail flowing behind, it could only be the police chief. Though they’d spoken, the chief wasn’t a particularly religious person, which left her with only two reasons to come, either the townspeople had sent her to deliver something to the miko, or the townspeople had a spirit they needed dealing with, and sadly, it looked like she was empty handed. Though, she had no intention of turning the chief away should this just be a random visit. After all, she was strong willed, and kind, Dia couldn’t help but admire her often. 

“Kurosawa-Miko, the fisherman and his daughter are in need of your help.” She spoke, her voice calm, despite the fact that the situation must have been pretty dire to come request her help.

“I see, please, continue, Matsuura-san.” The Miko began to walk back towards the temple in order to retrieve her equipment. “Follow me, if you would.” 

“Well, they recently arrived back from a fishing trip, and when they went to their store room to begin salting and preserving the fish, they found a fox inside eating its’ fill.”

“A fox? Aren’t wild animals something you can handle?” 

“Erherm.” The chief cleared her throat, so that she could continue. “They said it was using magic to prevent them from entering the storehouse, and I can confirm that neither I, nor my men were capable of entering.”

“I see.” Dia said, lifting her staff from the stand where it had been left, and picking up her talismans. “I think I have an idea of what we’re dealing with.” 

The two began to make their way into town the children of the town were always excited to see her, as she very rarely came down for anything other than business. She had to shoo them off, telling them she had important business to take care of. 

“They seem fond of you.” Kanan said, smiling back at the Miko.

“Well, it’s no surprise I’m popular with children, I practically raised one.” She smiled, her and Ruby had done much training together, though it was thanks to her clumsiness that Dia had become as excellent as she was, in order to ensure everything went smoothly, even when unexpected mishaps occurred. 

The two arrived at the storehouse, where the grey haired daughter was consoling her father. Dia approached,and bowed her head.

“I am Dia, a Miko of the Kurosawa household, and I have come to exorcise the spirit from your storehouse.” She gave the same introduction she always did, to villagers she was familiar with no less. The two just nodded, and thanked her.

The priestess went about sealing the entrances with talismans, to ensure that the spirit couldn’t escape the building before she could properly exorcise it. She took a deep breath as she opened the doors and entered, shutting them behind her and placing one more talisman on the inside for good measure. It was routine. Though it was strange to see a kitsune so far from the mountain, ti wasn’t entirely unheard of. 

“Spirit, reveal yourself, so I may vanquish you!” Dia cried, tapping the end of her staff against the floor. 

The lid of a barrel of fish popped open, and a golden yellow fox came tumbling out, its three tails trailing perfectly behind it. Dia took a breath, if she focused her spiritual powers she could see the fox’s true form. She reopened her eyes, and standing before her was a blonde women with a loop in her hair, clad in a short, hideously lavender kimono.

“Ooooh~ Pretty Miko-san has come to eliminate little old me! Exciting!” The creature cried out, a strange accent around some of the words. 

Still, Dia took a cautious stance, and threw a talisman at the creature, attempting to bind it into place. However, the spirit grabbed the paper out of the air, and stared at it, much to the miko’s shock. 

“A spirit shouldn’t be able to do that without harming itself! How can she do that?” She thought, for a moment it crossed her mind that the number of tails the spirit had belied its’ actual power.

“Wow! Your handwriting is terrible!” the Kitsune cried out, holding the talisman out. Dia could now see that rather than her perfectly written charms she had Ruby’s instead, with much less precise writing, it was no wonder they hadn’t worked on the creature. Ruby must have taken Dia’s instead. 

“No matter, I will still continue with this exorcism.” Dia took a step forward, prayer bead wrapped around one hand, and her staff in the other. 

In a quick striking motion, she hit the kitsune over the head with her staff, which sizzled as it made contact. Though the creature wasn’t stupid enough to stand around, and rolled out of the way quickly, before more damage could be done. Dia pivoted to look behind herself, where she saw the kitsune taking armfuls of fish from a barrel. 

“Mari Ohara, out!” It cried before running out of the storehouse, proving that the seal around it hadn’t been strong enough. 

Dia gave chase, almost knocking the chief of police out of the way when she went to ask what was going on. She chased the Kitsune all the way back to the forests on the outskirts of town, panting, and leaning on her staff as she arrived. 

Sweat trickled down her face, and she wiped it with her hand, frustrated that she was unable to expel the spirit properly. However, at the very least it was no longer in town. She took a moment to catch her breath, and returned to the town, explaining all that had happened to the police chief, telling her to come to the temple should the creature return. The return trip back to the shrine was humiliating, she felt like a failure, never before had a spirit been able to slip away like that. She clenched her fist tightly around her staff. When she returned she would bathe, and then make one thousand more talismans, and when the beast inevitably returned, she would strike it down more swiftly than any other spirit she’d encountered prior. 

Once on the temple grounds Dia changed into her white bathing robes, and made her way to the well, and began to bath herself. Though things had not gone as planned here, it did set her heart at ease to know Ruby had strong talismans. She hoped that her failure meant her little sister could grasp a small success. Maybe then, she’d come into her own, and be able to better herself as a miko. 

Returning to her quarters, Dia quickly made some seals and posted them on the outside of the entrances to her room, lest a vengeful fox return for her in the night. The next several hours were spent painstakingly making talismans, making sure every brushstroke was perfect, and burning any talisman that didn’t live up to her standards. 

Hours went by, and the sun had long sank beneath the horizon when the priestess found her way to her bedroll. Dawn came, and with it the miko’s eyes opened, the pitter patter of rain against the roof of the shrine calmed her. It had appeared that the spirit didn’t come for her in the night like she expected. 

She rose from her bedroll and stretched, it seemed as though today she’d be cleaning the inside of the temple, unless the villagers needed further assistance. 

“Ouuu! Miko-san is refined even when she’s just getting her sleepy little head up.” A familiar voice called from the other side of the room, where Dia had her mirror. 

Her head clicked as she turned, meeting eyes with the fox spirit, who sat on a small table next to the mirror, eating a plum freshly picked from a tree outside. The spirit brought it’s hand up to one of it’s eyes, pointer and middle finger extended as she stuck her tongue out at the baffled priestess.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for how inaccurate this is, I'm not trying to step on cultural toes, just trying to work out some basic ideas.   
> Also, if me using Japanese honorifics is annoying just let me know, I'm kind of up in the air about using them, so if it's more awkward than anything I'd be happy to change it.


End file.
